Pest alert

The Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni) is a species of tephritid fruit fly native to Australia where it is considered to be the country's most serious insect pest of fruit and vegetable crops. Adult flies are about 5 to 8mm in length in adult stage. Their larvae hatch in various fruit species, causing significant damage to crops.

The species is found in Australia in the eastern areas of Queensland and New South Wales and the extreme east of Victoria. Queensland fruit fly has also dispersed into Pacific countries such as New Caledonia via human activity.If this fly were to establish here, it would have serious consequences for New Zealand’s horticultural industry. Its legal status is a Notifiable Organism

On the 16thof February 2015, a single male fly was detected in an MPI surveillance trap in the Grey Lynn area of Auckland. This is the fourth time Queensland fruit fly has been found in northern New Zealand since 2012. Subsequently, on 20 February two more Queensland fruit flies – a male and a female with 39 larvae were found in a home garden nearby in the same suburb. Once a fly is found quarantine measures are immediately put in place.